Pastor Mike Hilliard

Jesus placed the heavenly will of the Father and regard his family-in-Christ over his earthly parents. Nothing takes priority over the work of God , not even death of a father.

Matt12-46-50

46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."[g]

 48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Matt 8:21-22

21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

 22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Jesus comes as Prince of peace but it may not be altogether peaceful. There is a price for following Jesus- there will be tensions within the family- sometimes getting kick-out of the households-members of own household becoming enemies..etc. We need to ask for peace and understanding, forgiveness and healing within these families.

Taking up the cross is too much but God always come through. Pastor Mike relate his experience of coming out of the comfort zones again and again-with ever increasing  influx of new kids – living by faith over the last 10 years. Walking the talk and taking responsibility. God will provide if we step out in faith. Where are you today ? I would do but….We must not be lukewarm, sloppy wishy and washy Christians. Because there is only 1 way – Jesus put himself  on the cross- it is the narrow way. We must decide because there is no other ways- even if there are many ways- we would probably end up becoming confused. We cannot manipulate God into our lives – one step into the world and another in His Kingdom. This pains God’s heart. We must make a commitment – and demonstrate it by  faith and show in our prayers. When we pray earnestly- there is power in prayer and whatever that is in the spiritual realm  will happen in the physical realm.

Matt 10:34-38

34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

   " 'a man against his father,

      a daughter against her mother,

   a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -

    36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[e]

 37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rev 3:16

16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Gen 6:6

. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

The next challenge is to move up to next gear- moving to the next level: (1) Do you want to do it ( 2)  Can and Will you ?

There are a lot of strategists, motivators and mindpower experts- teaching us that “we can do anything”. We have God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We have all the  resources and we can do all things- God do not change – and the mighty power of God  is shown  in the creation of the whole universe,  towards Israelites, to bring people from the dead, We need to rely on Him (not some experts), and our God given talents and ability, and get everywhere- but just on our own strength – we may get nowhere!

Philippians 4:13

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

We need to pray with new beliefs and confidence that God is going to change the situation- be spiritually matured. We need to give big and receive big. What is holding us back. We cannot fail- God have shown us another way- we get up and do more.

 Malachi 3:6

6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

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16 May 2010  Marriage

Pastor Mike Hilliard/ Jevelin Lengkong Hilliard

In some countries, we see trial marriages,  co-habiting and marriages are falling apart, e.g 2/3  of marriages in Scotland end in divorce.  How can we strengthen the matrimony home.

In a marriage, man and woman  are joined  together and two becomes one. Woman is the perfect helper,  strong enough to submit but not to dominate.  Whilst two stand together in union, each have their roles within a marriage, and often  making decisions  of the household as a team. What God has joined together, let no man separate. The importance of marriage can also be seen in Jesus  first miracle  in a wedding situation and also Paul’ s reference to Christ that love His Church. Marriage is foundation and from it  spring forth  blessings  … as children comes along.

Gen 1:27

27 So God created man in his own image,

       in the image of God he created him;

       male and female he created them.

Gen 2:23-25

23 The man said,

       "This is now bone of my bones

       and flesh of my flesh;

       she shall be called 'woman, [k] '

       for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Some advice :

Successful Christian marriage s  must be anchored on the same faith (it is naïve to expect our partners to change his entrenched beliefs after marriage ), same Christian denomination ( so that you do not have each family member attending different churches) , same faith level (there will be difficulties if husband or wife are at different level of spiritual maturity ) and also that the family is God  fearing ( as this will be taught to the children).

Wife ‘s role

Water drops on the stone, and if it continues, at some point the stone will break. Trusting  your wife  with money.  Wife do good for him, teach the children  good manners, be generous and God fearing. Husband is respected as a result of his wife.

 Proverbs 31:10

10 [c] A wife of noble character who can find?

       She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

       and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,

       all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax

       and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

       bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still dark;

       she provides food for her family

       and portions for her servant girls.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

       out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;

       her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

       and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff

       and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor

       and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

       for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;

       she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

       where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

       and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

       she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

       and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household

       and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

       her husband also, and he praises her:

29 "Many women do noble things,

       but you surpass them all."

30 Charm is  deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

       but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned,

       and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Husband’s role

Love your wife as Jesus love the church.

Respect in every single way possible:

(i) Serve/attend to her needs

(ii) Surprise her

(iii) Sensitive

(iv) Security and protection

(v) Build a home not a house

(vi) Understand each other’s role

(vii) Sex within a marriage- intimacy/ unite together  for enjoyment and blessings

Marriage is permanent and it  takes two to make it work but just one to destroy. So do not go to sleep with anger in your  heart – it is better to maintain calm and sort it out.

Life can be restored even  if the marriage cannot  be saved, and after divorce  the support of the pastor and the church can help to ease the process.

Eph 4:26

26"In your anger do not sin"[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

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23 May 2010 Seeking God

Pastor Jeff

Psalms 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Man by nature is a seeker- he is always looking for something and searching for a way. 

      i.            He is a seeker;

   ii.            A man of need and want; and

iii.            A man of curiosity.

Before seeking God, it important to stop sinning and be right with God, to draw near to Him. We may seek God for who He is, but  apart from what God  is , we  also seek God for miracles, for our loved ones, husband and wife, children, for healing and for special needs.

There are 2 category of seekers

(a) Those that seek God for what he can do

Yes- this is not totally wrong. What if?   God does not do it- and our prayers go unanswered, will it change you. 

(b) Those who seek God for who He is

For those who seek God for who He is , nothing is impossible, his miracles, his protection…etc.  Everything is with you/ for  you . You have everything - whole package. God of Israel – already seen, heard and is concerned with what we are going through.

Category 1-

Exodus 3:7-9

7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

Cycle of Exodus

From the biblical past, the people do not have a bible to fall back on, they relied on stories,  legends past down generations to generations  about God   Yahweh.  – God of Issac, God of Abraham. It was their conditions and their circumstances  that draw them to seek God. It was always the circumstances that determine their relationship with God. In  good times and victory, they worship and dance…celebrate,  and in bad times, they complain and complain.  Complaints can be constructive or destructive. Complaints affect our lives and defeats and narrows Him- it destroys the fire and slowly the church do not work.  It may be personal  but may encourage others  to complain-  and challenge the faith. Constructive complaints can be put across in a diplomatic way. Whatever is  the nature of our grievances , we should not dwell on it, but must let the anger go- do not carry it.

Exodus 3:14

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Exodus 4:31

31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus 5:20-21

20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Exodus 12:31-36

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."

 33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!" 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

Exodus 14:11-12

11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

Exodus 15:19-20

19 When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen [d] went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.

Exodus 16:2-3

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

Eph 4:26

26"In your anger do not sin"[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Category 2-

The climate of our worship and desire for Him must not be dependent on the circumstances that we go through in life. Not what God can do for us but for who He is. Blessing is secondary.  Moses recognized  God ‘s presence to be everything, more important than the promises,  as he acknowledged His presence and dwell where God ‘s presence is and move according to God’s pillar of clouds. With God’s presence, our seemingly limited resources becomes abundance… the  feeding of 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. With God’s presence the enemies will flee.

Exodus 33:15

15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

2 types of presence

Omnipresence

God is everywhere.

Psalms 139:7-12

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

       Where can I flee from your presence?

 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

       if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

Manifest presence

When God’s presence dwell in us,  and when Christ lives in us, it will show in our lives as we become Christ-like, as new creations, as we allow Him to shape and mould us – like clay in a potter’s hands- to be the kind of person God wants us to be. It is not about what we can do but what you are in His presence.  If we allow God’s character, knowledge and wisdom to imbued in our human spirit and mind, we can overcome all obstacles. Our problems become smaller and smaller.

John 14:1

1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me.

2^nd Corinthians 5:17

17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

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30 May 2010

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